How to Tuesday - Pickled Chard Stems

Growing your own vegetables makes you want to use as much of what you grow as possible. Kishore and I were both brought up with the principle of waste not, want not and given all the time, energy, and work we put into the kitchen garden it only follows that we would put that into practice.
Most people eat the green leafy part of Swiss Chard and cast away the fleshy ribs. Little did they know the treasure they were throwing away. I've always liked these fleshy, juicy ribs in salads and thought they would taste great pickled. When I stumbled upon a recipe in my antique cookbook for pickled mustard, I thought I'd adjust it for the Chard and was pleasantly surprised with  the results. You can use any variety of Chard, we grow Bright Lights Swiss Chard, so it has bold bright beautiful colors which add a lovely color to the pickle juice as time goes by.

This recipe is for 2 pints of juicy, yet tangy spiced stems, perfect for a Farmer's Market Bunch.

Here's my recipe for Pickled Chard Stems:

Pickled Chard Stems

Yields: 2 pints

14 oz of  Chard Stems, Cut
1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Water
1 Shallot, minced
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/4 Cup Salt (Iodine free)
2 Tblsp Mustard Seeds
2 Tblsp Caraway Seeds
2 Pint Jars, Sterilized


1. Clean the Chard stems and make sure to clear off all the leaves. Cut into about 3" long pieces and about 1/2" thick.

2. Add the Shallots, Mustard Seeds, Caraway Seeds, and Stems to the jars evenly.

3. Heat the sugar, water, vinegar mixture on the stove. When the vinegar mixture starts to boil add the salt and stir well.

4. When the vinegar mixture starts boiling add it to the prepped stems.

To preserve you can place them in the fridge or start the canning process. Pickles will be ready to eat in 3-5 days.

Interested in Easy Pickling check these How to recipes out: